Crack in the Continuum
by Evance
Summary: In a twisted world, a kinder Kyuubi finds himself the protector of a young Naruto and a omen to something far more sinister.
1. Prologue

It was all set.

Everything meticulously prepared. Every detail carefully considered. A roaring fire warmed the abode. The bedding neatly lain out with the most luxurious fabrics. And finally a warm beverage to settle ones stomach for a long sleep.

The plan was perfect. This would be the best sleep incomprehensible to lesser beings. There was nothing to worry about and nothing important planned. Calendar was clean for the foreseeable future. Any possible worries or troubles melted in front of the comforting fireplace.

Finally with a settled mind and a little physical exhaustion, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, or Kyuubi for short, slipped on his sleeping cap and curled up in front of the fireplace. The crimson coated beast bore some resemblance to a natural fox except demonically twisted. Despite his normally bestial visage, his relaxed form hid his more eccentric features. As his nine powerful tails wrapped around his body, he appeared more like a newborn puppy than demon spawn feared throughout the mortal world. With a few lazy blinks, he closed his tired eyes and slept.

Aaah…

Perfect.

…

…

…

Suddenly it was cold.

The demon cracked open one tired, bloodshot eye and promptly closed it. Nothing was going to ruin this. It just got cold instantly. That happens all the time. There was no need to get up from his undeniably perfect sleep and figure what went wrong. That would ruin his perfect plan!

A gust of wind blew across his form driving a shiver from his body.

Damn it. Groggily, the demon pulled himself to his feet. His nine tails limp on the floor behind him. A beacon of light seemed to shine down from the ceiling. Wait… When did it get so bright out? He walked around casually searching for the fireplace. His feet brushed over the green carpet-like foliage.

When did he get a carpet?

The demon shot wide awake as he realized he was not in his home. He glanced around at the landscape. This was definitely not his home. The dark star filled sky was dimmed by the luminescence of the full moon. The forest was barely tall enough to reach his ankles. The shock barely registered in his mind as he realized one undeniable fact. Someone had summoned him to the mortal world… Someone had ruined his perfect plan. He felt his head realizing his precious night cap was missing. A deep ominous growl started in his throat. Someone had stolen from him! Someone had purposely messed everything up for him! He let loose a violent roar that demanded vengeance.

The Kyuubi was not to be messed with! The fox sniffed the air searching for any sign of his would be targets. There was nothing. Not even his other senses could detect anything other than this damnable forest. Enraged, he took off in one direction roaring ever louder in demonic anger and breathing steam laced with his powerful chakra. His nine tails whipping violently behind him. Whoever or whatever dared to ruin his perfect plan would die in a sea of hellfire!

The world rumbled as the demon fox sprinted into the moonlight. His enormous bulk crushed trees to toothpicks and sent earthquakes rippling around him. In his rage, he did not notice his righteous, vengeful anger brought him barreling through a small innocent village.

**SQUISH!**

Kyuubi stopped instantly. One foot stomped straight through an innocent two story building in the small innocent village. Eew! There was blood all over his paw! He absent mindedly scraped his paw on a few trees. Oops. He did not mean to do that. Well the humans in the building probably deserved it! He glanced down at the ruined building and caught its name.

"CHILDREN'S ORPHANAGE"

Oops.

He picked up a few pieces of the roof and carefully placed it back on the building. There! Good as new! Mentally patting himself on the back, the Kyuubi noted no one would notice the large gouged out holes, the burning foundation, or the pools of squished human bodies. Now he had to sneak out quietly without raising alarm and drawing out meddlesome people.

He backed up slowly. Suddenly, the entire town exited their homes, caught sight of the enormous demon, and froze solid as a statue in fear. The Kyuubi mentally sighed. He could do this. He just needed to say something and reveal this was all a huge misunderstanding.

**"Sorry?"**

"OH MY GOD! THE NINE TAILED DEMON FOX HAS RETURNED AND DESTROYED THE INNOCENT HOPE OF OUR FUTURE!"

Real smooth...

With that yell, the entire village started screaming and running around in a blind panic.

"SOMEONE GET HELP! CALL THE HOKAGE!"

"THE CHILDREN! WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!"

Now would be a good time to leave. The demon fox randomly chose a direction and ran off into the night. The cries and screams of hundreds of desperate villagers faded into the moonlight. Smirking to himself, he ran as quickly as possible hoping to simply outdistance any troublesome humans. Unbeknownst to him, he was now striding directly for the Konohagakure, the hidden village of the leaf, and the stronghold of one of the most powerful ninja villages on the continent.

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_A long time ago, a demon fox with nine tails existed.  
_

Said demon fox barreled haplessly over a mountain, tripped, and rolled unceremoniously into the forest floor.

_When that tail was swung, it would destroy a mountain and cause a tsunami._

Angrily looking to and fro, the demon fox breathed steam before swiping his tails at the forest floor that dare skin his knee.

_To counter, the people gathered ninjas._

"HOLD IT UNTIL THE FOURTH HOKAGE ARRIVES!" One nameless ninja yelled as he tossed a flurry of kunai.

A thousand ninja techniques and a sky darkening volley of kunai erupted into immense explosions along the demon's side. The Kyuubi felt a strange itch, laid down on his haunches, and vigorously scratched. A legion of ninjas instantly perished.

"DON'T LET IT GET CLOSER TO THE VILLAGE!"

Two giant footsteps reverberated signifying the grand entrance of Gamabunta, the Toad King. Kyuubi cocked his head peering at the giant powerful frog with squinted eyes. The giant frog looked familiar. A brilliant flash of insight came to the fox as a hail of ninja weaponry harmlessly bounced off his leg. The last time he saw the frog, the kid was barely half a foot high!

_One ninja sealed the monster in a life or death battle and died._

The Kyuubi, still caught up in his elation at remembering the young Gamabunta, never noticed the darkened figure standing on his head.

_That ninja was known as the Fourth Hokage._

From the Fourth Hokage's hands, a brilliant shining light erupted and covered the landscape in seething light. The Kyuubi, with demonic enhanced sight, gazed at a figure invisible to human eyes. Behind the Hokage, the immense visage of the Death God (Shinigami) stood in all its terrifying glory. How could a mortal summon Death of all things?

**"Death?! What the hell are you doing here?"** the Kyuubi asked in slack jawed awe.

**"Oh, hey Kyuubi,"** the Death God said surprised as if only now taking notice of his target, **"Well, I hope they're no hard feelings after this. I'm on the job ya know."**

**"What?!" **The Kyuubi roared.** "What the hell is goin- ACK!"**

The god's fist closed around the Kyuubi's very essence and had begun the painful process of relieving the Kyuubi of his own soul. But the nine tailed demon fox was not feared throughout the lands for nothing. The death god's grip slackened as the Kyuubi's powerful chakra fought him and battled the god with all its might.

**"Now, now Kyuubi. You're makin' this harder on yourself."**

The god grunted pulling out half of the Kyuubi's being.

**"But it's my soul, you can't have it!"**

The Kyuubi struggled and managed to pull the god backwards reabsorbing what he lost.

**"Look, it's not like your gonna be tortured for all eternity. You're much too strong for what this seal was originally intended for!"**

The god, slightly angry now, reached out with both of his hands and gripped onto the Kyuubi's soul.

**"Hey hey! You owe me one, Shinigami!"**

**"Awe c'mon, you can't use your favor from a card game to decide your fate!"**

With both the god's hands firmly latched onto him, the Kyuubi could no longer shrug off the relentless tug on his soul.

**"You promised me! I don't feel like dying at the moment."**

**"Geez, alright fine! I'll make you a deal. Once this seal has run its course. I'll return you good as new back to your home."**

**"Agreed!"**

Overpowered, the Kyuubi was taken into Death's hands and brought directly to the Fourth Hokage who had quickly set up the required sealing materials on the forest floor. In the chill of the night, a newborn infant screamed its distress in the center of a ring of burning candles. Still conscious, the Kyuubi realized that this was no ordinary sealing.

**"What the hell is this, Death!"**

Death seemed to chuckle in amusement at the fox's remark. The god hovered over the frantic preparations of the Fourth Hokage. The baby screamed in anger at the strange treatment it was receiving.

**"Oh yah. I forgot to mention you'll be sealed in a newborn infant for the rest of his natural life. When the child dies, the seal would have then run its course. Hence our deal is fulfilled."**

**"WHAT!"**

The Death God grinned, a horrifying image that would have loosened the bowels of the most courageous ninja, and lifted his hand to throw the Kyuubi's being directly into the child.

**"WAIT! I TAKE IT BACK! I WANNA DIE!"**

A brilliant swirl of light and a shockwave that bowed the strong trees surrounding Konoha were the only signs of the demon's imprisonment.

**"By the way fox, don't try to get the child killed. I find out you directly tried to hasten the boy's death or fail to keep him alive and the deal's off."**

With that, the Death God left, the lifeless body of the Fourth Hokage hit the ground, and the forest grew quiet again.

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**Crack in the Continuum**

By Evance

Disclaimer: Naruto is created by Masashi Kishimoto. Studio Pierrot and Aniplex handles the anime series. Viz translates the manga and anime for western audiences. In no way am I involved with any of this.

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"**HRRN!"**

Four years, it had been four years trapped in this damned prison.

"**HRR!"**

He thought he could have simply slept through the entire human's life. But without his precious nightcap, a roaring fire, and a warm cup of hot chocolate, sleep came in naps. The rest of the time he was "privileged" to watch the infant grow up. After a couple of weeks of feeling the infant defecate on himself, he decided to withdraw his mind from the child's senses and focus on more important things. This seal was a brilliant piece of work. It was even more surprising that such a seal came from a mere mortal.

"**GRRR"**

Creatures like the Kyuubi knew a lot about humans. You simply did not rise to their level of power without some understanding of possible threats. But despite his experience and knowledge, he was sure that such a seal was beyond human understanding. In fact, the very act of forcefully summoning him without him noticing should have been impossible. But here he was struggling at bars of his cage. He could barely fit the tips of his tails slightly pass the spaces, but that did not stop him from trying to slowly loosen the gate for about three years.

"**HRRRRR!" **

In the real world, he could have been able to slowly loosen to bars over time. But this place had no actual substance. Therefore, all his hopeful efforts were for naught. The Kyuubi finally gave up and slipped his tails from the bars. He rubbed the tips of his tail to sooth the aching numbness that had spread through them.

Now what? How long did humans live again? Wasn't it around eighty years? What the hell was he going to do for seven decades if he could not sleep or do something meaningful?

Maybe he should check up on vessel whats-his-name… Narturo? Nurato? Naruto… yeah that was it. Naruto. Sending a slight spike of demon chakra through the small opening in the seal that allowed his chakra to naturally mix with Naruto's, he tapped directly into the boy's senses.

Fear coursed through the boy's body. His heart quickened beating at thousands of beats per minute. In the midst of the darkened, neglected orphanage, a husky man covered in the stench of alcohol and days of sweat raised a rusted meat cleaver high above his head on the verge of swinging the blade through the boy's head. Naruto was frozen solid in fear.

**"HOLY SHIT, KID, RUN!" **

Naruto snapped out of his daze and tripped over his own feet. The man's swing brought the clever into the ground right between the boy's legs.

"You'll pay," the man said with slurred speech, "you damn little monster."

Whimpering in fear, Naruto cowered before the immense bulk of the drunken man. The man clumsily wrenched his makeshift weapon from the ground and stumbled haphazardly over Naruto. Even his breath reeked of alcohol.

**"GET UP! RUN!"**

Naruto did not need to be told twice. Panicking, he stumbled through the halls of the orphanage. The orphanage, once peacefully lit in the daytime, was now an ominous maze of nightmares. Naruto stumbled through the darkness. His steps creaked each of the boards of the wooden floor. Each breath became loud and heavy. Behind him, the booming, staggering footsteps of an angry, inebriated villager got ever louder. Naruto did his best to meld into the shadows quickly losing the would-be killer. Naruto tried to hold his breathe.

"Come out kid. We'll play a game. We'll call it 'eye for an eye.' You'll enjoy it." He cooed and taunted. A sliver of moonlight fell through the window and glinted off the sharp edge of the blade.

Naruto quickly jumped into the small bathroom locking the door behind him. What should he do now? He felt tears running down. He had to get out! He didn't want to die! He choked out a sob and began to cry.

**"Quiet kid! Calm down!"**

The fox, ignoring the muffled sobs of a terrified child, took note of the world around him. The bathroom was a dirty little thing. It was barely kept clean but to the villagers it was more than what the "little demon" deserved. There was one small window outside. This was his only chance.

A loud bang shocked Naruto as a clenched fist slammed into the door.

"I know your in there kid."

"**CRACK!"**

Half of the meat clever tore through the door. The fox growled from within the boy. He hated these pathetic attempts at intimidation, but the kid was far too young to shake it off. Remembering a certain promise to a friendly god, there was only one thing he could do.

**"Kid… I need you to give me control."**

Realizing the voice was not actually a part of his thoughts, Naruto responded like any rational four year old boy.

"What?"

**"DAMN IT! Give me control!"**

The top half of the door burst in half revealing the maniacal grinning madman out for Naruto's blood. He laughed began to rapidly hack away at the door. Naruto, terrified and confused at the strange voice in his head, reacted on instinct. With a great leap impossible for a kid his age, Naruto flew through the small bathroom window and out into the safety of the rest of the village.

Or it would have been safe had the bathroom not been four stories off the ground. Naruto seeing the world fatally rushing toward him promptly fainted. By default and a little luck, the Kyuubi took control of Naruto's body… a four year old, pathetic, and weak human body four stories off the ground.

**"YOU LITTLE BRAT!"**

**CRUNCH!**

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The cool night air was soothing to the mind. As often as the jounin walked amongst the rooftops of the village at night, he could never bring himself to truly appreciate the beauty of Konoha. He had little interest in simply watching from atop the edge of the roof. That was boring. His mind was on other things racing ten steps ahead of everyone around him. Especially given the daytime annoyances, it was comforting, this peace and quiet.

The evening silence broke at the sickening sound of human flesh landing onto the hard dirty alley. He could hear the crunch of bones shattering. Interesting.

With a graceful blur, the man disappeared from his ledge and landed next to the source of his interest. Naruto Uzumaki lay broken in a twisted pile of human parts. A pool of blood slowly crept outwards around the young child. The man cocked his head as if it was perfectly normal to watch a child die. But to his surprise, the boy's body cracked as bones healed itself, and gouged open wounds were remolded into soft unmarred skin. This was certainly interesting.

The emotion etched across the man's face was a combination of intense scrutiny and curiosity. He ignored the heavy footsteps of Naruto's would be killer breathing heavily after running down four flights of stairs. The out-of-shape and notably drunk man stumbled over his own feet as he moved closer to finish the kid.

"Hey, you… outta the way. I got a demon fox to kill."

The cleaver wielding maniac was only able to get within two feet of the boy. Without notice, the jounin casually backhanded the drunk and shattered his jaw with that powerful blow. The drunk screamed. Or he tried to. Instead he choked on his own blood as pain coursed throughout his face. Forcefully sobered by the rivers of agony rippling from his jaw, the man opened his eyes wide as he recognized the ninja. Mentally and physically in shock, he fell into painless unconsciousness.

Finally satisfied, the ninja, with surprising care, reached out and picked up the partially healed boy. Being a demon vessel had surprising consequences. He felt the perfectly renewed skin that had once been jagged and torn by shards of broken bone. With a little rest, the child could be walking in a week. Interesting. Very interesting. The jounin blurred to the nearby rooftop and sprinted his way to the nearest hospital.

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The Kyuubi slumped in exhaustion leaning on the bars of his cage for support. The kid would live but just barely. The seal had been much harder to work through than he thought. Sure it did allow him to leak his chakra and have some control over the healing process, but the seal prevented him from using the full extent of his power. Naruto was only four, and his body was too immature to handle his full power. Ironically, the seal intended to protect Naruto from his actions now prevented him from fully healing him. He could still feel broken bones, several still open wounds, and the obvious signs of a concussion.

"Hey, you… outta the way. I got a demon fox to kill."

Damn! All that work and the kid would die anyways to a weak, psychotic waste of meat. The Kyuubi growled his frustration and slammed his shoulder against the bars of his cage before falling down from fatigue. A great demon fox killed by a human with an old sharpened piece of metal. What a way to go. He would have a hell of a time explaining this to his ancestors in hell.

**CRACK!**

And then the man was gagging from a broken jaw. A powerful chakra source emanated nearby with a surprising amount of killer intent for a human. The Kyuubi cocked his head at the strange scent in the air. Naruto's rescuer, this ninja… was different.

The Kyuubi partially disconnected himself from the boy's mind as he felt his Naruto's newfound rescuer carry him off to safety. The fox laid down and closed his eyes in deep thought. He could not afford to leave the boy unattended. But he did not want to be babysitting the brat for his entire length either. A scant half a minute later, Naruto was quickly prepped by the hospital from the forceful orders of the Hokage. Naruto's limp body shuddered involuntarily as the hospital staff and a few medic-nins soothed bruised flesh, cast broken limbs, and closed any remaining open wounds.

"I assume he's okay," came a voice whispered and distorted due to Naruto's concussion.

"Hokage… you are very lucky he did not die. Foolish to leave him alone."

The Kyuubi perked at that man's voice. That had to be Naruto's rescuer. That strange stench filled the room. What was that smell? He could not quite place it.

"I won't. That is what I am by his side."

The Kyuubi felt the medic-nins pick up the fully bandaged child and placed him on a bed. Naruto whimpered in pain as he cracked open his eyes startling the fox with his sheer determination to live. Naruto's pupils dilated in the haze of white light from the harsh hospital lights and refocused on the worn face of the Third Hokage. The old man checked the boy once over for any permanent damage and found nothing.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

The Hokage quietly placed the hospital bed sheets over Naruto and walked out the room to confront the jounin.

"It is amazing. The fox may be Konoha's curse but it is Naruto's blessing. I hope I can forgive myself for neglecting his safety."

"I have warned you before. People are petty and weak minded. That is why we should discuss this in private away from this place."

The Hokage closed the door behind him and dimmed the lights leaving Naruto in the small room alone. The old man's footsteps across the wooden floor dimmed as he left the hospital. It was quiet now. The faint silhouette of a few of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai or ANBU, the black ops of the ninja world, was the only sign that the Hokage had ordered some protection for Naruto's recovery. The full moonlight hung like a lamp in the hospital window casting eerie shadows across the entire room.

Naruto shook still a bit scared from his close shave with death. His voice cracked slightly as he held back sobs. He curled into a ball shaking lightly. The Kyuubi grumbled to himself at his sudden concern.

**"Hey kid… psst…"**

Naruto's head would have hit the ceiling in surprise if his legs were not in a cast.

"WHO ARE YOU!!" 

**"SHH! Not too loud!"**

The door to Naruto's room swung wide open revealing an ANBU guard wearing a mask with simple animal like features.

"You alright?" he asked somewhat concerned.

**"Just nod."**

Naruto smiled brightly and nodded.

The ANBU shook his head and slipped out of the hospital room mumbling how the Hokage should "stop taking in strays."

"Who are you?" Naruto whispered curious.

**"A friend, I guess… and talk to me in your mind. Last thing I need is you to be seen as insane!"**

_"YOU'LL BE MY FRIEND?"_ Naruto thought loudly, his voice a few hundred decibels too high.

**"ARGH! Why do you have to be so loud!" **the Kyuubi roared in pain,** "I think my ears are bleeding, damn it."**

_"So you won't be my friend?"_ Naruto responded sounding as if the entire depressed, hate filled, and polluted slum of a thrice cursed world had burned his hopes in agonizing fire and defecated on his dreams. The Kyuubi felt that strange pang of _caring_ and _concern_ from within himself.

**"No… we can be friends-"**

_"OKAY!" _

The Kyuubi fell to the ground; his ears throbbing with pain.

**"Sonuva… WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT YELLING!"**

_"I'm sorry,"_ said Naruto with the most heartfelt apology ever uttered by a human child.

**"Well, just… okay." **The Kyuubi muttered unsure of how to respond to this barrage of innocence. **"You be sorry."**

An awkward silence hung in the air for about five minutes.

_"Why do people try to hurt me?"_

**"Because they are bad people. Bad people hurt innocent children. But don't worry about that."**

_"You can stop bad people from hurting me?"_

**"Nope."**

_"But-"_

If one could see the giant metaphorically light bulb blink to life over the Kyuubi's head, you would be blinded by his sudden insight and flash of brilliance.

**"You know ninjas are strong and they can beat up all the bad people."**

_"Really?"_

"**Maybe, when you get older, you could learn to be a ninja."**

_"You think I could do that?"_

**"Sure, kid."**

What was the average life expectancy of a full time ninja in combat? The Kyuubi remembered it was something along the lines of between twenty and thirty years.

**"And you should always try to be the best."**

_"Why?"_

**"Because if you are the best, you can become Hokage. And if you're the Hokage, everyone will be your friend."**

_"Wow! I wanna be the best ninja and a Hokage person!" _

The Kyuubi smiled to himself. This is why Shinigami lost to him at betting. Death simply could not see everything his brilliant, superior fox mind could comprehend with ease. He could fulfill his purpose and protect the kid with all his might. But he could not help it if Naruto somehow got himself killed fulfilling his own dream.

Naruto, on the other hand, had just found a new purpose in his life. One that would make everyone acknowledge him and be friends with him! Naruto smiled relaxed back into his bed. His near death ordeal was forgotten with this newfound goal. He slumped deep into his bed and relaxed.

**"Finally some peace and quiet."**

_"I can't sleep."_

The Kyuubi's eye twitched and his tails whipped a wall behind him.

**"Just go to sleep."**

_"But I can't! It's all dark and my head hurts!" _Naruto pouted.

**"Then count sheep or something!"**

_"But I can't count all the way yet an' I wasn't listening when she told me an'…"_

The Kyuubi grumbled as he let the boy continue on his childish explanation. There was only one way to solve this. He was going to hate himself for it. But this was the only way.

**"Hey, brat. How about… How about I sing you a song so you can sleep?"**

_"Okay!"_

The Kyuubi grumbled and cleared his throat.

**"Rock a bye baby-"**

_"I'M NOT A BABY!"_ Naruto screamed in his head, crossed his slightly wounded arms as best he could, and rolled over to his side pouting.

**"Damn loud brat."**

The Kyuubi closed his eyes in deep thought. Every song he could remember passed through his mind. He settled on the only thing he could remember in such short notice.

**"First I was afraid,"** the Kyuubi began his singing voice hitting surprising beautiful melodies.

**"I was petrified."**

A soft beat from nowhere pulsed behind each word and slowly built into a groovy masterpiece.

**"Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side."**

The Kyuubi voice rang like an angel's chorus through Naruto's mind.

**"But I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong. I grew strong!"**

A disco ball descended down into the Kyuubi's cell showering the dark place with funky lights.

"**I LEARNED TO CARRY ON!"**

The Kyuubi spun into a graceful dance move in the middle his cage. The darkened floor lit up with hundreds of color-changing lighted tiles.

**"I've got all my life to live! I got all my love to give!"**

**"I will survive!" **

_"Zzzzzzzzzz…"_

The fox's musical died at the sounds of Naruto's slumber. The disco ball shattered and dispersed into nothingness. The music in the background wound out like a broken down record. The cell returned its normal dank, dark dungeon look. The Kyuubi sighed and laid his head down on his paws.

**"Stupid Brat." **

The full moonlight hung like a lamp in the hospital window.

And for a moment in his life, Naruto slept as a child should without worry, hatred and pain.

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**Author's Notes:** I am using media miner as a secondary upload location place. I usually post first on to test the waters. So I guess this place will tend to get more fixed up versions of my stories. Please review and tell me what you think. Flames/ Insults are welcome as long as they have substance.


	2. Intersecting Points

The sun slipped over the horizon and the hidden village of the leaf greeted the morning with their usual peaceful candor. A few early risers enjoyed a stroll through vacant streets breathing fresh morning air. An alarm deep within the bowels of a dark enclosed room went off with a shrill squeak and died a quick death as a hand drove itself through the clock and the dresser it was sat on.

The ANBU member groaned as he sat up in bed and rubbed his face as if trying to squeeze out his exhaustion. It was times like this that he hated this job. Sure, he did get some surprisingly challenging missions and very generous pay, but he never thought that the other duties required of his position would be so back breaking. Specifically, he was referring to watching over one Uzumaki Naruto. That kid did not only have a demon sealed inside of him, he was a demon.

For the last eight years, he had been assigned on and off with other selected ANBU to watch the kid and keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately, Naruto actively sought out trouble. Did he not remember being almost killed? As he got older, his bright and confident nature combined with his status as an outcast and loser within the Ninja Academy gave Naruto the idea of performing pranks… sadistic, insidious, and surprisingly sophisticated pranks.

He had been especially lucky. Naruto had spared him from the worst of his devilish stunts. Instead, the most difficult tasks he had were cleaning up after the boy. Just last week, several academy teachers suffered Naruto's wrath when several explosive tags conveniently placed throughout portions of the bathroom exploded causing huge geysers of pent up excrement to rise right out of the toilets. One restaurant notorious for denying Naruto their services had been utterly filled up with soap foam. One especially belligerent shop keeper found himself hospitalized after Naruto laced his toilet paper with super glue. Naruto paid dearly for that one.

However, Naruto, somehow, never pulled off any prank that had lasting damage. Even the damage caused to the Academy's bathrooms had allowed the Hokage to obtain the necessary funds to modernize the Academy's facilities. That had to be more than luck. It was as if someone had been working with the brat the entire time.

Donning his mask and cloak, he left his apartment and jumped to the roof of his building. At least mornings held some sense of sanctuary. He could sit and enjoy the cool air. The sun lit up the Hokage monument revealing every nook and cranny of its beautiful construction and…

"HOLY SHIT!" the ANBU member screamed as he jumped to his feet. 

The Hokage monument had been desecrated! The immense visage of the First had been colored white, lips scribbled bright red, and eye shadow colored around the eye lids. It now looked like a geisha had all geisha's worked part time as street walkers. The Second now looked exactly like Naruto. The bright blond hair, blue eyes, facial markings, and that childishly mischievous, exaggerated grin all were dead ringers for Naruto. And the Third and Fourth were… they were fine. In fact, they seemed to have been polished and cleaned up.

"Naruto… you little... NARUTO!"

The ANBU sped off joined by the equally shocked members of his team. Their mission was clear. Find Naruto, Dead or Alive.

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**Crack in the Continuum **

Chapter 2: "Intersecting Points"

By Evance

Special thanks to CaptExplorer for help with this chapter.

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"So today we will begin the preliminaries before…"

Iruka paused in his speech and shuffled through several papers. The chuunin instructor eyed the bored, tired faces of his senior academy students. One was missing. One loud, blond haired kid was missing. Something bad was happening. He could feel it in the air chilling him to the bone. Iruka shuddered and continued.

"…before we decide who graduates and-"

**BOOM!**

The entire classroom shuddered from a loud explosion waking up the entire class. The staircase like design of the desks caused one tired male student to fall from one row. He landed in a tangled pile with a light blonde haired female student.

"Get… off of me!" Ino screamed as she picked up the boy and hurled him back to his seat head first.

"Girls are most troublesome."

"Shikamaru, do you need help?"

Legs high in the air and headfirst through the desk, Shikamaru muttered his muffled response.

"Yes, Chouji, I could use that."

The class immediately went silent when the wooden door shattered into splinters as an ANBU team dragged themselves into a room. A heavily bound Naruto was thrown into the ground, bounced on his head, and landed hard on his back. His duct taped gagged screams of indignation were nothing compared to the cold fury of the dark cloaked ANBU members. They were considerably worse for the war. One looked as if he had been dragged threw cow manure and shoved down a sewer. Another had his entire uniform below his waist ripped off revealing his love for cute kitten boxer shorts. Finally the lead ANBU member was smoldering with small patches of his cloak still on fire.

"Iruka, your turn."

With that, the ANBU members exited leaving behind a shocked class. Naruto rolled around the floor in abject fury. With his orange and blue eye sores for clothing and a pair of goggles on his head, Naruto would have attracted attention even if he was not struggling on the floor. Iruka now had a migraine big enough for the disgraced Hokage monument.

"Naruto, what did you do now."

That was not a request. Naruto chuckled lightly still struggling with his bonds. Iruka bent over and grasped the heavy duty ANBU level duct tape over his mouth. Naruto went quiet with his eyes wide in fear.

**RIIIIPPPPP!!**

"AAAAIII!!" Naruto yelped in pain tears welling up in his eyes.

"Awe, why did you do that Iruka? That hurts!"

"Naruto, what did you do now," Iruka said with the exact same inflection and tone of voice he used before.

"Heh heh… well I sorta… heh heh…"

"Spit it out Naruto."

"I improved the Hokage's monument!

"WHAT?!"

Iruka disappeared with a smoky poof as he landed outside the Academy on the roof with jounin level speed. He gave a weak gasp at the sight of the Hokage monument. The entire village was now in an uproar and marched as a mob down the streets to the Hokage's Tower to bring who was responsible to justice. Given that one of the faces now was an exact replica of Naruto, it was no surprising who they were clamoring to punish. Iruka reappeared in the classroom startling Naruto out of his skin.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU NARUTO!"

"You just watch! One day I am going to be Hokage and my face will be up there permanently!"

Iruka was now grabbing the bridge of his nose right on the scar slashed across it. Naruto had been getting much more daring as his time in the Academy slowly drew to a close. Contrary to popular belief Naruto did not fail, he would always barely pass. Instructors simply failed the kid seeing a young demon in the making and not a young child in training. It was extremely easy to do so. No one would ever double check his test results. No one would ever try to defend the kid. Only Iruka in his innate curiosity had ever noticed he passed every test but failed in the final grade. But that was no excuse for painting yourself over the Hokage's monument.

"Everyone! We'll be retaking the exam on ninjutsu, right now!"

The entire class groaned and plodded down from their seats to the front of class kicking Naruto on the way down.

"Line up and perform the following ninjutsu in a row: the Transformation technique, the Body Replacement technique, and finally," Iruka continued his eyes glinting as he looked down at Naruto, "the Cloning Jutsu."

Naruto whined like a tortured puppy and smacked his head repeatedly on the ground. This was so not fair! He could barely do the Bunshin and he could only maintain it for less then two seconds. This whole prank thing was totally not worth it!

**"Hehehe, trust me kid it was completely worth it."**

Naruto snorted at the sudden intrusion of that haughty voice in his head. It needed no name and no introduction. It had always been there and always been annoying. The students slowly lined up in preparation for the test. No one bothered to untie Naruto.

_"No it wasn't! Now everyone is angry at me again. I have no idea why I let you talk me into these things!"_

**"Yeah, I know they're angry at you. That was why it was COMPLETELY worth it. That one ANBU leader was so pissed when you set off that pipe bomb!" **

_"You did not tell me it would take out half a village block!"_

"**Hey, don't blame me, you should have asked. No one cares about that section of the orphanage anyways."**

Sasuke was the first student to take the test ignorant of the conversation taking place within Naruto. The young Uchiha wore his regular blue shirt embroidered with the fan-like Uchiha symbol on the center of his back. He rapidly performed the Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin jutsus in rapid, robotic succession. Iruka nodded impressed at Sasuke's expertise on the basics. Naruto could feel an involuntary growl at Sasuke's display of skill. He respected skill, of course, but Sasuke always did it with that brooding, complacent look on his face. That same haughty, arrogant look had entranced the entire female half of the class. Naruto wanted to strangle it out of the Uchiha. In Naruto's mind, Sasuke's picture lay under the definition of the word "dick."

Haruno Sakura stepped up to the plate determined to impress Sasuke with an equally impressive showing of her own. She had toiled for hours to get her bright pink, natural hair just right. Her clothes had been chosen to show off her amazingly feminine charms to her one true love (for all eternity). She blazed through all three techniques and settled down looking expectantly at Sasuke's direction. Sasuke had one hand latched to his head staring at the wall completely missing her little performance. Sasuke was so cool brooding like that!

"GO SAKURA! THAT WAS THE BEST! WOO!"

Sakura's eye twitched as Naruto congratulated her with all his heart. That should have been Sasuke congratulating her and then picking her up in a romantic embrace where they would be carried off on a white horse and live happily ever after. Sasuke was so cool! To show her anger at how Naruto was not cool like Sasuke, Sakura marched over the bound boy with pounding steps, rubbed a heel into his face, and sat proudly in her own seat.

"Oww…" Naruto said. A giant red imprint on his cheek pulsed menacingly.

**"Why her? Why would you like a person like that?"**

_"Wha? Why not her! Sakura's the best! She's smart and pretty and full of-"_

The Kyuubi grew more and more annoyed. It did not take an idiot to notice Sakura not only did not like Naruto but she was still quite mentally immature. Sasuke was little more than a prize to be won among the young girls. Maybe she would have more understanding of what love meant as she grew older, but right now she was little more than a delusional fan girl spoiled and sheltered in this Academy. It was obvious humans were a roving bunch of moronic idiots incapable of intellectual or rational thought unlike a suave, smart, and sexy demon fox.

_"And she's so cool,"_ Naruto explained in his mind, clearly and precisely.

**"Forget I asked. Just shut up."**

Iruka tapped lightly on his clipboard as he came down to Naruto at the bottom of his list. A young Hinata watched expectantly with the characteristic Hyuga blank grey eyes. She folded her hands over the sleeves of her beige winter ready jacket.

"Your turn Naruto."

Iruka reach down and unwound Naruto like a yo-yo. The boy spun at a thousand miles an hour like a horizontal top before landing in a heap. His eyes swirled in a dizzy daze. Instantly recovering, he bounced to his feet; determination etched on his face.

"You just watch this!"

Grinning madly, Naruto performed the Transformation technique. The light puff of smoke ended revealing an exact replica of Sasuke. The Sasuke replica struck an exaggerated brooding pose.

"Oh! Look at me, I'm Sasuke! I got a pole shoved up my ass twenty four seven!"

**WHAM CRUNCH SMACK!**

Naruto found himself buried under about ten benches all hurled like explosive artillery by irate girls (and some guys) who were completely enamored with the Uchiha heir. It was more difficult than it sounded as the benches were attached to the floor. Sasuke yawned as Naruto's petty insults bounced harmlessly off his armor of apathy. Naruto dropped the technique and exploded from the pile of destroyed seats grumbling half whispered obscenities and plucked out slivers of splinters across his face.

"Hurry up Naruto, we don't have all day," Iruka noted as he tapped his clipboard.

Still mumbling his curses, Naruto reluctantly started the Body Replacement technique. The Kawarimi activated and threw up a light smoke screen to cover Naruto's movements. The smoke dissipated leaving behind Naruto in the exact same position he was in before. However, he was wearing Iruka's clothes.

"NARUTO!"

The class broke into insane laughter at Iruka wearing Naruto's bright orange ensemble. The clothes were many sizes too small for the livid instructor. Iruka, blushing red in embarrassed fury, quickly performed his own Body Replacement Technique and returned each other's clothes to their rightful owners. Naruto gave a wide smile of success and scratched the back of his head basking in his achievement.

"Don't celebrate too quickly, Naruto. You still got to clone yourself."

Naruto's swollen ego deflated like an overblown balloon. He huffed as he heard the jeers of his fellow classmates and a few others made predictions on how badly he was going to fail. Out of the way in the far corner of the room, Hinata twiddled her fingers and silently wished Naruto good luck. Naruto unenthusiastically prepared the seals for the technique.

"Clone Jutsu," he said in a sad monotone voice.

Ten seconds passed. Naruto stood defiantly as sweat dripped from every poor. Finally, a single clone appeared summoned in an anticlimactic unsettling of dust. The clone looked almost like Naruto, but many minute differences such as the slightly lighter color of hair and dark brown eyes told the story of an unsatisfactory illusion. The boy fell to his knees as he let go of the technique sucking air into his lungs with gasping breathes. Iruka sighed and marked Naruto's attempt as a failed grade.

"Sorry, Naruto, but an illusion like that won't allow you to pass the Genin test tomorrow. It has to look like you. Now get back into your seat, we still have some final work to do before the test."

Naruto trudged up to his seat trying to ignore the insults of those around him.

"Told ya he would fail."

"He's record doesn't lie either."

"Dead lasts always remain last."

That last one was uttered by Sasuke as Naruto walked passed. Naruto did not even turn to yell. Hinata looked on depressed. Didn't they see just how hard he had tried to pass? Wasn't that worth something in this world?

**"What a loser. What an idiot. Get out of your system, kid."**

_"I don't need your sympathy."_

**"Hell, I ain't offering it,"** the Kyuubi replied. **"But stop thinking of how depressed and how lonely you are. No one gives a shit about you, so tell 'em to fuck off! You can't be the next Hokage if you got your tail between your legs running scared!"**

"Yeah!," Naruto yelled aloud interrupting Iruka from his lecture. "This ain't stopping me, I'm gonna pass your stupid graduation and be the next Hokage before you know it!"

The class laughed as Iruka strolled up to yell into Naruto's face about manners and showing rightful respect to teachers. Deep within his cell, the Kyuubi grew a little smug. This was Naruto and he would not have it any other way else. Hinata would have agreed.

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An hour after class ended, Naruto left the Ichiraku Ramen Bar full from his usual banquet of ramen goodness. Iruka had decided to treat again! He must have felt guilty about being mean. With Iruka paying, that meant he could eat as much as he wanted. In other words, he had enough ramen to sink Wave Country under three feet of the stuff. Ramen was truly a gift from above. He did not know what Iruka was crying about when he received the check.

His little prank had amounted to nothing. His elaborate artistic endeavor had been done using non waterproof paint. A light rain minutes after he had been thrown into class cleaned the monument washed the paint away. Naruto would have gladly ripped off that ANBU guy's mask just to see his expression as old man Hokage announced Naruto would be free from punishment. There were simply no lasting signs of proof. In fact, his little stunts had actually cleaned up the monument and helped in the demolition of the old orphanage.

A distant, determined demeanor washed over Naruto as he remembered his afternoon and evening plans. The graduation was tomorrow. He would need to fully master cloning. But how could he? If he tried to quickly perform the technique, it would result in a deformed mess of a clone. Intense concentration resulted in a barely passable clone that dissipated in a couple seconds. Why was this so hard?

The Kyuubi grumbled in his cell at Naruto's frantic self analysis. As experienced as a chakra user as only a demon fox could attain, he knew instinctively why Naruto could barely clone himself. The kid had far too much chakra for one his age. Mixed with a little of his own superior, demonic chakra, the cloning technique was the equivalent of trying to paint a masterpiece on the head of the pin. Naruto had much better control than most people gave him credit for, but his enormous stamina dramatically increased the difficulty of performing Academy level techniques.

If Naruto failed the final exam, the demon fox would have to tack on an extra year of being stuck in him. That was another year of hopeless annoyances, Naruto brand idiocy, and a constant deluge of ramen. As Naruto reached his favorite, out of the way training field in the outskirts of the village, the Kyuubi made himself known.

**"Hmmph, I guess I'll help you with the whole cloning thing."**

Naruto perked up as he kneeled next to the shallow, trickling stream nearby and washed off his face. The little opening was enclosed by Konoha's large, thick trees. It was a great place to get away from it all, notably from homicidal villagers.

_"Really?" _Naruto started energetically before remembering who he was talking to. _ "Wait, what is in it for you?"_

**"Shut it brat and listen to my advice."**

Naruto crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow at the Kyuubi's unexpected, out of character offer.

_"Okay, but it better not be annoying. Don't let me bring up that whole tree walking regime."_

**"Screw you kid, it helped didn't it?" **The fox had received no thanks for his superior help at all!** "I doubt you would be able to perform anything without me! You need me!"**

_"It took me two months to figure out what you meant by 'Train as if you and the tree are one so that together you may ascend to the skies.' You could have just told me I needed to use my chakra to stick to the tree!!"_

**"Enough! If you want my help, sit down and listen up."**

Naruto, still suspicious, dropped to the floor with his arms still crossed and waited.

**"I want you to try and summon a small amount of chakra in the palm of your hands."**

Naruto obliged, and put his hands together concentrating fiercely. It took a while before he started to feel the faint breeze created by his escaping chakra. A tiny explosion erupted from his hands burning them lightly.

"AGH! OW!" Naruto clutched his hands and dipped them into the nearby stream. He knew something was up!

**"Do you know why it exploded like that?"**

_"I put too much, you could have told me exactly how much to put."_

**"No then the whole point of this exercise would have been lost."**

"What point?" Naruto said aloud.

The demon fox smacked his head against the ground a few times in frustration.

**"THAT IS HOW MUCH CHAKRA YOU USE TO CREATE THE DAMN CLONE," **the fox roared.

"Oh… OH!" Naruto yelled as he jumped to his feet.

He rapidly performed the cloning technique's seals and whispered its name. Instantly, another Naruto appeared in front of him. It was an almost exact reflection of Naruto. The hair was slightly too short and the eyes were not quite the same color, but it was passable! The now madly grinning blonde haired boy held onto the technique for half a minute before losing control.

"YES! I'm gonna pass! I'm gonna pass!" Naruto cheered as he danced around the clearing for a bit in celebration.

The Kyuubi nodded slightly to himself. He was a bit surprised to say the least. He did not think the kid would grasp the basics of his hint so quickly. The Kyuubi was probably just rubbing off on the boy. That had to be the reason.

**"There now you can't say I rarely helped you."**

_"You do rarely help me." _Naruto accused silently._ " And this barely counts as help!"_

**"Well what then? What counts as help?"**

_"I dunno, how about teaching me a new jutsu. How 'bout an attack that no one else has!"_

**"Alright, fine. But just one!"**

Naruto pepped up for the second time. The voice was actually going to teach him a new move out of the kindness of its heart? Was this world coming to an end?

**"Okay now follow exactly what I tell you to do. I got this technique that'll just fit you perfectly. Pure power. It's is a simple one, only two seals, but it'll be great. Trust me."**

Naruto was now twice as wary as before. The Kyuubi continued informing the boy of every aspect of the technique in extreme detail. A little at ease, Naruto performed the seals accordingly and shouted out the name.

"Fire release: Aurora Flare!"

Crickets in the forest chirped as nothing happened. Naruto had felt the familiar molding of chakra. He had performed the seals like the Kyuubi had advised. What went wrong?

_"Hey, your technique is brok-"_

**FWOOSH!**

"AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!"

Naruto spontaneously caught on fire. An immense conflagration swirled like a whirlwind around Naruto as chakra fueled fire burst from every pour. Screaming like a little girl, Naruto ran in panicking circles before jumping into the water and rolling madly to put the fire out.

**"HA HA HA HA!"** The Kyuubi took an immense breathe before continuing his guffawing laugh. **"You (wheeze) should have heard (gasp) yourself! I did not know you could hit that high of a pitch! Maybe you should quit being a ninja and join a chorus for preschoolers."**

Naruto leapt from the stream and back into the clearing. Now he was pissed off! He'll show everyone what he was capable off! Quickly running through the seals, Naruto performed the technique in record time and screamed out his lungs.

"FIRE RELEASE: AURORA FLARE!"

An amazingly powerful, but controlled halo of flame seeped out from every pour. In seconds, it grew into a fiery hurricane that covered the entire clearing spreading and consuming everything. In the center of the chakra imbued inferno, Naruto stood unscathed. His entire body was tense with sheer tenacity. The Kyuubi's laughter stopped as the fox's jaw hit the floor. The kid had performed the technique perfectly on his second try. Naruto ended the technique and dropped to his knees in extreme exhaustion.

A girlish scream of pain caught Naruto's attention. Ignoring his fatigue, he leapt to his feet and ran pass the burning clearing. Behind a large, robust tree, Naruto found Hinata frantically pounding her burning jacket to stomp out the flames. Naruto eyes glinted in recognition.

"Hey! Hinata! Fancy meeting you here! Sorry 'bout the whole fire thing…"

Naruto stopped as he noticed Hinata now looked exactly like a doe caught in the gaze of a hunter's fearsome visage. Half naked, jacket burning on the floor, and in the act of stalking her love, she reacted as a shy, timid girl in her position would. She shrieked, blushed madly, and sprinted as far away as possibly throwing up a trail of dust as she made her way home.

"Wow, she's fast," Naruto said scratching his head in slight confusion. "But I did it!"

The spiky blonde bundle of energy cut himself off from another tirade of celebration. He still needed to get his clones to be exactly perfect. And he would need to learn how to control that fire jutsu he learned. Deep within the boy, a shocked fox sat wondering just what kind of monster he had set loose upon the mortal world.

In one of the trees hidden expertly in the leaves, a jounin watched, confirmed his suspicions, and vanished.

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As afternoon turned to evening, the Village of the Hidden Leaf wound down. The warm humid day had turned into a chilly evening night. With the exception of patrolling ninja, most everyone was now sound asleep. The current "babysitting" team of ANBU assigned to watch over Naruto also did their shifts for light patrolling around the village walls. Naruto, himself, was face first into his bed snoring like a legion of chainsaws. An entire afternoon and evening of training had tired him out. He had worked double time on every single thing the Academy and Iruka had taught him. He had honed those skills like the sharp end of a kunai. As midnight struck, Naruto was both mentally and physically exhausted to the point where sleep came dreamless. His entire consciousness was consumed with the need to rest. That was perfect for what the Kyuubi needed.

Naruto's eyes shot open. The normal natural blue of his pupils had become crimson. The facial markings that marked him as a vessel were now extremely pronounced. His finger nails grew and sharpened forming a crude imitation of claws. The Kyuubi now had control over Naruto's body, an extremely unstable control.

The fox had long sinced learned he could actually take control of Naruto's body in special circumstances and within certain strict limits. This ability was only granted because the seal allowed some of his chakra to mix with Naruto's. This meant he could just barely subject control over the boy. Unfortunately, Naruto had to be unconscious in every way, shape and form. That only happened when Naruto had exhausted himself to a point where he slept dreamless sleeps.

Even if the Kyuubi succeeded and controlled Naruto's body, the Kyuubi could not use his chakra without Naruto's intervention. Any attempt to forcefully draw upon his chakra meant the seal would react and wake Naruto shunting the demon fox back into his cell. This restriction was so tightly enforced by the seal that even thinking about malicious thoughts would cause a slight change in his chakra and activate the seal. Therefore, he was left with a weak, young human body nearly without chakra, utterly exhausted, and unable to perform any deviant acts. If the Kyuubi had been any more evil or malicious, he doubted he would have even tried.

The Kyuubi pushed up Naruto's body and silently fell back into the covers. The fox grunted with Naruto's voice. Moving this body in this burned out state was difficult. The Kyuubi growled feeling as if every muscle was now trailing fire. Rolling off the bed, the fox stood up on wobbly legs. A quick wave of his hands threw up an illusion to cover his bestial features. Quietly exiting the room, the demon fox leapt to the roof, overestimated his body's strength, and nearly slipped off before righting himself.

**"Well, at least I can walk around for a bit," **the Kyuubi said with a voice more insidious and foreboding than Naruto's normal light-hearted inflection. He would have to be cautious. Interaction had to be kept to a minimum. The fox grinned haughtily. Sneaking would be effortless for one such as him. ANBU and jounins be damned, let a demon fox show how sneaking around should be done! The Kyuubi let out a ground shaking evil laugh.

"What a fine night it is to hear your youthful laughter."

The Kyuubi spun around coming face to face with a man delineated by moonlight. Striking a cool pose, the man revealed himself to the demon possessed boy. With bowl cut hair, uniform green body spandex, and a jounin jacket, Maito Gai, the noble green beast of Konoha, flashed a smile and a thumbs up. Even in the dark night, his teeth seemed to sparkle. The Kyuubi gawked at his immense, grotesque eyebrows like wiggling parasites sucking blood over his eyes. It was hypnotizing… they were so large… The fox's concentration on his illusion nearly wavered as he jolted himself out of his daydream.

"AH! The early springtime of youth shines in us all! But it's late… You must rest and recoup the power of your explosive youth!"

The Kyuubi stared. He was going to have to say something. What did Naruto say other than "ME LIKE RAMEN!" and "durr?"

**"I… I was out training! For my blossoming youth and such and such etcetera!" ** The demon yelled with fake Naruto-style enthusiasm and desperately threw a stupid, optimistic grin on his face.

"OH THE POWER OF YOUTH! I cannot bear my hesitance any longer! Come, we must train together until the morning!"

**"EH?!"**

The jounin grasped the demon possessed kid, threw him over his shoulder, and marched to a training ground.

"Let us train until morning and bask in our youthful sweat!"

**"PUT ME DOWN! You don't know who you're dealing with. Let go!"**

A light breeze rustled the trees and a loud cry pierced the evening slumber.

**"NOOOOOO!"**

The Kyuubi, the most powerful demon in all the lands, now knew what it meant to feel fear.

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The late morning light pierced the darkness of Naruto's room. Naruto scrunched his eyes and tried to roll deeper into his sheets. His eyes shot wide open.

"WHAT TIME IS IT?!"

Naruto tossed off his sheets and tumbled off the bed. Why was everything hurting? Sleep meant your body would rest and recover, right? Why did he feel like he had run five hundred laps, performed a thousand hand stand push ups, and basked in youthful sweat all night long? Hastily throwing on his usual bright orange clothing, Naruto skipped his breakfast and made a break for the Academy.

Iruka tapped his clipboard as he drew out the time. Naruto's name was up next. He could hold out for one more minute before he was forced to fail him. It was not like Naruto to simply give up and not show. The entire class was eerily silent as well. Iruka sighed and lifted his hand. His pen hovered over Naruto's name ready mark his failure. Iruka quietly mumbled his apologies and let his hand descend to his clipboard in agonizingly slow motion.

The door slid wide open as Naruto fell face first into the class.

"I MADE IT!" Naruto exclaimed on the wooden floor.

"I can take the test!"

Iruka breathed a sigh of relief, grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his jacket, and hauled him off to the examination room. He tossed Naruto in the middle of the mostly vacant room. Mizuki, a fellow silver haired instructor chuunin in similar chuunin garb, woke up from his light nap and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Iruka made his way to a table and sat next to Mizuki. A large collection of forehead protectors glinted with the etched swirling leaf symbol of Konoha. Naruto slowly pushed himself to his feet. His arms shook wildly as if he was lifting a metric ton.

"Alright, you will be performing the cloning technique as instructed." Iruka instructed slight worry mixed into his voice at the sight of Naruto's strange behavior.

Naruto stared with dazed tired, eyes at Iruka.

"Naruto!"

Naruto snapped out of his daze and mumbled. Iruka leaned in closely evaluating the boy. Naruto was actually blinking slightly out of synch with each eye. That confirmed it, Naruto was utterly exhausted. What was he doing all day yesterday?

"Yeah, cloning, yeah I can do that."

Naruto fought off his fatigue. With steely eyed determination, he summoned his chakra and grasped at nothing. Bewildered, Naruto concentrated again and desperately reached deep inside himself trying to draw out anything whatsoever. He felt a light tug of chakra, a drop of water in a desert. Settling his hands into practiced seals, Naruto yelled out the technique.

"Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto sweated profusely drawing out the little sliver of chakra. His hands were clasped so tightly they turned pure white. Two seconds passed before a clone materialized slowly. It was an almost exact reflection of Naruto. The only difference was the fact the clone had a slight tear in his pants where the original did not. Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto let go of the technique and dropped to his knees from chakra exhaustion.

Iruka nodded feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. It was not the best clone, but it was passable within the guidelines for this test. His faith in the kid had not been misplaced. Iruka smiled as he stood up.

"Congratulations, Naruto, you –"

Naruto returned Iruka his own bright smile between gasps of breath.

"-fail," Mizuki interjected. Naruto instantly jumped to his feet.

"HUH! Why? I did the technique. Ask Iruka! I passed!" Naruto's growing hysteria was instantly cut off by Iruka's gesture.

"I have to agree with Naruto, Mizuki. He passed under the guidelines set for this graduation." Iruka's voice held cold fury.

"No, he did not. He can barely create a clone, a _flawed_ clone, without falling down from exhaustion." Mizuke explained with a bored drawl. "And the guidelines state, both you and I must both pass him. By my book, he fails."

"That's not fair! I did it! Iruka tell him I pass." Naruto begged pointing an accusing finger at Mizuki. Mizuki feigned cool indifference.

Iruka gave no action as he settled down in his seat. Mizuki was right. By the guidelines, both examiners had to be satisfied with a student's performance. Naruto dropped his hands casting a look of betrayal to his teacher.

"He's right, Naruto. If one of us fails you, then you fail the exam. I'm sorry, Naruto."

Naruto's arms dropped limp to his side feeling his hopes guillotined. The symbols of ninja, the forehead protectors of Konoha, were less than ten feet away from Naruto. They might as well have been located on the dark side of the moon. There was a canyon between him and his graduation. On the other side of that imaginary boundry, Mizuki barred the only path to his goal, and Iruka did nothing to help. Naruto left the room quietly with only unshed tears as his reward.

Mizuki sauntered out of the room ignoring the steel eyed gaze of Iruka. Naruto had taken the whole act like the gullible, dead last student he was. The silver haired chuunin smirked to himself. The plan had proceeded like clockwork. Congratulating himself on his own genius, Mizuki never noticed the jounin watching the entire event through a window. A swirl of leaves and a gust wind passed, and the mysterious man was gone.

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The Hokage's Tower had been inundated with missions coming from every part of Fire Country and a few from without. This peaceful interlude would end soon. For the elder Sarutobi, the current Hokage, he hoped the peace would last just a little bit longer. Despite his amazing strength and encyclopedic knowledge, old age was beginning to catch up to him. Decades of battles and injuries now weighed down on his very soul. He smoked his pipe and let himself relax as he cleared out the last of the day's paperwork. A furious knock on his door caught his attention. Please let this peace last just a little bit more.

"Hokage!" Mizuki yelled barreling into the room. His voice was hoarse from his quick entrance.

"Is something wrong, Mizuki?"

"Naruto has taken the Scroll of Sealing!" Mizuki breathed heavily. "We must do something, immediately. Who knows what could happen if he finds _that_ seal!""

Behind Mizuki, a large group of ninjas accompanied the instructor. They hollered in anger and demanded immediate action to kill the boy. The Hokage now truly felt his age. Despite all his work, even his subordinates could not see past the demon fox sealed within Naruto. From their enraged stares, the Hokage knew this was the excuse they had been waiting to hear.

"Hokage, if Naruto finds the Fourth's seal, he could release the fox!"

The entire procession voiced their agreement with loud curses and promises to kill the fox.

"This has gone on long enough! We cannot let the fox kill everything we hold dear. We must protect Konoha. Naruto must die!"

The Hokage raised a hand and calmed the clamoring ninjas. He gently laid his pipe on his desk and breathed out a stream of smoke. He cleared his lungs and continued.

"You are right. Find Naruto and bring back the scroll immediately." He leaned forward for emphasis. "But bring back Naruto alive."

"But…" the ninja asked.

"Do you question your Hokage?" He asked. His voice was laced with impregnable authority and power. The Hokage peered eye to eye with the ninja that questioned him. The ninja stepped back sensing a powerful chakra wash over him.

"N-no sir!" The ninja stuttered and saluted his leader. The Hokage nodded and waved them off. A huge gust of wind rattled his clothes as the multitude of ninjas disappeared with extreme speed. Mizuki turned to leave.

"Mizuki, tell me, have you told anyone else yet?"

Mizuki could feel his hackles rise at the question. Did the Hokage suspect anything? He had no time for talk.

"I have informed Iruka, he has been actively searching for him."

"Very well then."

Mizuki left just as suddenly as the other ninjas. A few seconds later a war party of ANBU appeared before the Hokage. Their dark cloaked appearance along with their sheer numbers was a fearsome sight to behold. The lead ANBU bowed before giving his report.

"Your suspicions are correct. We have done a quick, but thorough investigation into the matter." The ANBU handed a folder filled with damning evidence on Mizuki to the Hokage. "It seems Mizuki has been actively contacting someone outside of Konoha. However, we have a trail that leads directly to Mizuki but nothing to whoever he is contacting. This whole thing is a diversion for something else entirely."

The Hokage nodded. His faith in the information presented to him earlier had been justified. Mizuki was planning to use Naruto as a scapegoat; blame the boy for stealing the most dangerous scroll he could ever posses. However, Naruto did not have the time, the place, or the skill to find and steal the scroll. From his report given to him, Naruto had been practicing the entire day yesterday. Even though he was old, a mere Academy student, especially a student close to absolute chakra exhaustion, had no chance in hell of sneaking past him and the increased ANBU security he had placed around his library. Even Mizuki lacked to skill to get the scroll. Yet the scroll had been missing.

"Actually," the Hokage noted. "Naruto is not the scapegoat in this. Mizuki is. He is being played for a fool. Someone else wants that scroll and needs Mizuki to take the fall."

If the ANBU doubted any of the Hokage's words, they did nothing to voice their concern. Behind emotionless masks, they were amongst the best Konoha had to offer. Unlike many other ninjas, they did not let their prejudices get in the way of their sworn job. The Hokage continued.

"For the time being, follow Mizuki. The other ninjas I have sent will find the boy. I am hoping we eventually find whoever put Mizuki up to this."

With a quiet exit, the entire legion of ANBU disappeared. The Hokage picked up his pipe and prepared it for another smoke. Walking to his desk, he settled down on his seat and shuffled his finished documents. Turning behind him, he addressed a hidden man standing on the roof outside the tower.

"You were right. Mizuki is a traitor to the village."

"You doubted me?" the man asked rhetorically.

"This is twice you have saved Naruto. Had you not warned me, I might have been sending our ninjas to kill instead of find the boy."

"Think nothing of it." the jounin replied as he too disappeared into the night.

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"S-shadow Clone Jutsu or Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto read aloud from the immense scroll spread out on the floor.

"The Shadow Clone Jutsu is an advanced form of the regular Clone Jutsu creating full body clones instead of illusions... Yadda yadda yadda, tends to cause chakra depletion and often death… blah blah blah… Ah! Here is how to do it!"

Two hours later, Naruto fell exhausted as he finally mastered the technique. His replenished chakra supply was now down to almost nothing again. Mizuki may be a dick, but he did promise to let him pass if he mastered a skill in the scroll! They said you should forgive and forget right? The scroll had been thoughtfully place near his favorite training area. He opened up the scroll even further and began skimming through all the techniques. Maybe they put the weakest techniques in the beginning. Therefore, the best techniques must be at the end! Naruto rolled open the scroll further. A yawn in his mind caught him off guard.

**"Oh my head. All that running five hundred laps, performing a thousand hand stand push ups, and basking in youthful sweat is exhausting." **The Kyuubi let loose another tired yawn.** "Hey what are you doing?"**

Naruto continued to go through the scroll before finally reaching the end.

_"Passing the genin test,"_ Naruto replied to the Kyuubi in his mind.

**"Oh, well carry on."** The Kyuubi stretched in his jail and prepared to catch another few minutes of sleep.

"Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Reaper Death Seal, or Shiki Fujin are all names for one of the most powerful and feared seals ever created." Naruto read aloud. He scrunched his face up at the word seal. This sounded stupid and boring. He rolled the scroll back up and carefully searched for something more fun to do.

In the Kyuubi's half asleep mind, the words: Seal, Demon, and Death repeated itself over and over. It soon became an infinite loop growing louder with each passing cycle. The Kyuubi awoke screaming.

**"NARUTO, TURN BACK TO THE LAST PART NOW!"**

"NARUTO!" A combat garbed, masked Iruka dashed into the woods beside the exhausted student. "What are you doing?"

**"Who cares about him! Technique more important. Last part. Now!"**

"Awe, you caught me, Iruka," Naruto grinned. "But don't worry, I'll show you one of these techniques and I'll pass!"

**"Stop ignoring me kid, this isn't funny!"**

"Wait, who told you this?" Iruka questioned as he tensed. His right hand wandered down to the kunai place at his hip. He listened carefully for anything out of the ordinary around him.

"Mizuki did. He said if I perform this technique, then I would graduate." Naruto lectured patronizingly.

**"Look, I'll level with ya. You turn to the last page and I promise to never perform anything sadistic on you again."** The Kyuubi begged through gritted teeth. Naruto cheerfully tuned him out.

Iruka heard the tell tale signs of something heavy passing through the air directly at Naruto. Responding with experienced reflexes, Iruka shoved Naruto to the earth. A giant shuriken flew through the space Naruto's head used to be and gouged out a chunk of Iruka's arm. Screaming in pain, Iruka dropped to his knees clutching at the bleeding gash on his forearm.

"Let's avoid all the pleasantries, Iruka. Naruto, give me the scroll and everything will be fine." Mizuki said revealing his concealed position on the branch of a nearby tree. He too was dressed for combat. His clothing bulged from concealed weaponry. A second giant shuriken glittered from its perch on Mizuki's back.

Naruto was still frozen in a heap on the ground. Iruka recognized the shock and indecision written on the boy's face. Naruto had no combat experience whatsoever and no clue about what to do.

"Don't give the traitor the scroll," Iruka leveled with Naruto. "Not even for your life!"

"W-wha," Naruto stuttered. Mizuki cut him off .

"I see Iruka is terrified of you possessing the scroll."

The maliciousness present in Mizuki's voice was disturbing compared to his normal, aloof demeanor.

**"I don't mean to be rude, but what the hell is going on?"**

"What the hell are you saying Mizuki?" Iruka mouthed. The gash was bleeding heavily in a small river of red down his arm. A small puddle of blood formed from the drops dripping from his numb fingertips. If he did not get the wound closed soon, he would lose that arm for life.

"I'll tell you something, Naruto. I'll tell you the reason why Iruka did not stand up for you when you failed. I'll tell you why the villagers want to kill you. I'll tell you everything Naruto."

"Naruto," Iruka breathed heavily. "Don't listen to him."

"You are a demon, Naruto. You are the Kyuubi, the one who killed Iruka's parents and murdered legions of ninja and civilians."

The gears in Naruto's head turned. Naruto finally put the full picture together.

_"YOU ARE THE KYUUBI, THE EVIL NINE TAILED DEMON FOX??!"_ Naruto shouted accusingly at the voice in his mind.

**"Heh, heh…uh… yes… Yes, I am."** The fox said sheepishly.

_"You killed all those people! You… you… murderer!"_

**"I'm sorry alright,"** the fox's started guiltily, **"I usually don't kill without a reason. It was an accident."**

Naruto did not respond. The boy's mind was still in shock. The voice he had found comfort and solace in. The voice he had confided to and shared his deepest secrets. The voice he considered almost a brother. That voice was the nine tailed demon fox. A creature feared for its power and known for its depravity and mass murders. His mind could not equate the kind voice with Kyuubi.

**"Look… I don't like killing unless I have to. But shit happens and people got hurt. I couldn't help it. I got sealed inside of you and paid my price, okay?"**

_"How… how could you be inside me?"_ Naruto wondered.

**"Long story,"** the fox turned its attention back to Mizuki.** "But now's not the time."**

_"We're talking about this later, fox." _Naruto agreed_. "You got a lot to answer for."_

Mizuki glared at the silent, shocked boy. He had expected a reaction from Naruto other than shocked silence. It almost seemed as if the kid was talking to himself. Strange but not out of the ordinary for a demon. Mizuki prepped his second and last giant shuriken. A kunai flickered in the evening light and lodged itself into Mizuki's shoulder.

"AUGH!"

Mizuki dropped like a rock to the earth from his perch on the tree and tried to squelched further cries of pain. He had carelessly forgotten about Iruka! How dare the man humiliate him!

Iruka dashed at Mizuki. His quick thinking had leveled the playing field. Both of them would be one arm out. However, Iruka did not count on Mizuki's superior strength. With one hand, the traitor lifted the giant shuriken and wielded it like a giant sword. Iruka strafed sideways but the shuriken was quicker. Iruka dropped to the floor as he felt the shurikan cut a shallow, painful gash across his stomach.

"Stop it!" Naruto cried still unsure of what to do. This was nothing like the brawls and sparring at the Academy. Was this how a ninja fought?

Mizuki raised the shuriken over Iruka's neck and let gravity take over. Iruka rolled away narrowly avoiding decapitation as the shuriken carved a thin trench. Jumping to his feet, Iruka flipped in the air over Mizuki barely avoiding another quick slice by the bloodied shuriken. Iruka took advantage of Mizuki's miss and flung another kunai hilt deep into the back of Mizuki's leg. Off balance with one leg injured, Mizuki was pulled to the floor with the heavy, cumbersome weight of his exaggerated shuriken.. Iruka dashed at the fallen chuunin, slipped another kunai into his good hand, and prepared his final blow.

A hail of kunai flew from Mizuki's supposedly injured arm. Although sloppily thrown because of his wounds, there were too many kunai for Iruka to dodge. Three kunai pierced Iruka's gut with a fleshy smack. He stumbled and fell to the ground coughing up blood. The tables turned, Mizuki limped over to Iruka who was desperately gasping for breath in a pool of his blood. The oversize shuriken was held like a guillotine in Mizuki's hand. He grinned menacingly as Iruka struggled to lift himself off the ground and failed.

"STOP IT! LAY OFF IRUKA!"

Naruto's voice was now hoarse from anger. He had to do something. Instinctively, his hands formed the seals for his newly mastered technique.

"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU"

The entire forest was now filled with hundreds of exact clones of Naruto. Iruka looked up from the ground in awe as Naruto performed the Mass Shadow Clone Technique, a supposedly dangerous jounin-level technique. Mizuki, heavily injured, was seeing his life flash before his eyes.

"You want this scroll?" Naruto said as he lifted the entire thing on one hand. "TAKE IT!"

Naruto threw the massive scroll like a giant spear directly at Mizuki. The traitor let out a high pitched shriek as it bashed right into his face. A thunderous sound of bone breaking and a cry of intense agony echoed in the starry night. Clutching his bleeding, broken nose, Mizuki let his shuriken clatter to the ground. Falling to his knees, his last words were a muffled cry as the enormous army of Narutos charged into the fray.

Five minutes later, Naruto was dragging a wounded Iruka to the nearby hospital. Mizuki, or the quilted mess of bruised flesh and broken bones that was left of him, had been left behind tied to a tree. Let the ANBU take care of it and do something useful for once.

"Naruto," Iruka started gasping for breath. His wounded arm hung limply to one side.

"Yeah, Iruka?" Naruto asked. He repositioned Iruka and carefully supported him to prevent more wounds.

"You know with Mizuki out of the Academy," Iruka coughed and gasped for breath. "That leaves me as the sole instructor over your graduation."

"You mean?"

"Congratulations, Naruto, you pass."

Iruka slowly removed his own forehead protector and passed it to Naruto. The blonde boy held onto it in awe and clutched it tightly in one hand. Iruka caught a glimpse of tears as Naruto placed it on his own forehead.

"T-thank you Iruka." Naruto choked out.

"No… no problem, Naruto."

A small team of ANBU hidden in the foliage watched the whole procession with some measure of boredom. They had arrived just in time to witness a mere Academy student perform the Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu perfectly without suffering any long term consequences. The exchange between Naruto and Iruka was sickeningly sweet. They could feel their teeth rot just watching.

"Cute, huh?" One ANBU leader mentioned.

"Indeed," another ANBU agreed.

"Which one of us gets to _wake_ up Mizuki tomorrow?" the ANBU leader asked. His voice laced with sadistic intent. If Mizuki were awake, he would get the chance of seeing his life flash before his eyes a second time.

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Naruto flashed a shit eating grin into the mirror in his home. He had to say, the forehead protector looked damn good on him. Naruto moved through a set of cool poses that were ridiculous given his age and the orange clothes he favored.

**"Looking good, Naruto!"** the Kyuubi interjected. The tone of his voice was full of fake optimism.

Naruto snorted, shut his eyes, and crossed his arms over his chest.

**"You can't ignore me forever!"**

Naruto whistled looking at the ceiling as if there was something incredibly interesting there.

**"C'mon it's been two days!" **

"You, know! I think I'm gonna go to the Academy today and find out whose on my team instead of listening to a damned demon fox." Naruto said aloud as he marched outside and roof hopped toward the Academy.

**"Now you're just being mean."**

Naruto continued to ignore the fox even as he entered the Academy.

**"Fine! I'll go! But you'll want me back! You need me!"**

Naruto slid the door to his old classroom open and proudly marched halfway inside. The entire graduating class whispered to themselves wondering why the failure was coming to class today. Maybe he was such a moron that he forget he failed.

"Ha!" Naruto pointed to the forehead protector as he stuck his tongue out at the entire class.

"I told you all, I'd pass! No sweat for the future Hokage!"

"It will be hard to be Hokage if I cannot assign you a team, Naruto."

Naruto nearly leapt out of his skin as Iruka pushed him out of the doorway and pointed him towards his seat. Iruka limped to the middle of the class room on crutches and pulled up his own seat. Naruto carefully made his way up to his usual spot and stopped in anger. Sasuke was sitting in his usual spot.

"Oh," Sasuke said bored; his fingers intertwined. "You passed."

"What are you doing in my seat, Sasuke!"

"NARUTO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Iruka shouted from the bottom of the class.

"This isn't over," Naruto promised as he searched for another seat.

Finding one vacant, he sat down and relaxed into his seat. This spot was great! Why did he never sit here before? Naruto turned to his left and noticed Hinata staring at him with those blank Hyuuga eyes as if he was some sort of apparition.

"Hey Hinata! How's it goin!" Naruto said loudly.

Hinata finally realized this was actually Naruto sitting right next to her. She backed into her seat, squealed quietly, and slumped into her desk hiding her face into her arms. Naruto scratched his head as she repeatedly mumbled stuttered apologies. What was she apologizing for?

"Uh, I accept?"

Hinata answered with a deep red blush. A look of enormous sense of relief crossed her face. Naruto did not hate her when he found her in the woods stalking him! Her confidence no longer in shambles, she took up courage and prepared to act out the most daring thing she had ever done in her life.

"N-n-aruto… How did you pass?" Hinata asked barely stuttering and loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"The Hokage said I can't really tell you, but I helped Iruka with something and then he passed me!"

"O-okay," Hinata finished lamely cursing her lack of confidence to continue the conversation.

"Alright, now we will begin announcing the teams. Since most of the jounin instructors are extremely busy right now, we were forced to change our plans. Once announced you will all be assigned a room to wait for your jounin teacher."

Naruto soon tuned out the wounded teacher. Genins came into group of threes right? So who would he be teamed with? He hoped it was Sakura! That would be great. Maybe Shikamaru would be okay. He was sort cool and not a dick like Sasuke. Naruto gave another angry glare at Sasuke.

"Team 7, " Iruka began.

"Team 7 will include Uzumaki Naruto…"

Naruto stood up and leaned over his portion of the desk like a captivated viewer at the edge of his seat.

"Uchiha Sasuke…"

Naruto fell back into his seat and began pounding his forehead on the desk. The entire female portion of the graduating class was now on the edge of their seats. Sakura eyed Ino with hate filled eyes wondering what the pig was thinking. Ino returned her glare with an equally malicious stare of her own trying to predict the thoughts in that enormous forehead of hers. Sasuke could only belong to one true love!

"…and the final member will be Hyuuga Hinata."

Hinata's heart leapt into her throat. She was going to be on a team Naruto. The thought pounded in her head over and over. Her shy smile died once she noticed the rest of the girls glaring flaming daggers at her direction. Blushing madly she folded her arms on the desk and hid her face. The rhythmic pounding of Naruto's head onto the table soothed the chaotic thoughts whirling around in her head. She was going to be on a team with Naruto! Her happy deluge of romantic thoughts stopped as she remembered the contemptible reputation the boy carried. How was her father going to react to this?

"Team 7, you'll meet your jounin teacher in this room. And stop it, Naruto!"

Naruto groaned and stood up stiffly in his seat. He gave an evil look out of the corner of his eyes to Sasuke. Sasuke did not care to notice. He was such a dick!

Eventually the entire class dissipated. Everyone had split off into their own teams leaving only Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke in an eerily quiet room. Two hours later and Naruto was ready to jump out of his skin. What kind of jounin teacher showed up late? A mischievous smirk grew on Naruto's face as he walked to the doorway. Taking the chalkboard eraser in one hand, Naruto cracked the door open slightly.

The door slid open startling Naruto who jumped ten feet back to the wall.

"Hmmm… what are you doing?" A person noted as he walked into the room.

The person carried himself with a lazy stature. He picked up the eraser in one hand and looked at the remaining students. His forehead protector and mask covered one eye. The other was half open as if it took too much energy to fully open it. Along with his silver mess of hair, the ninja played the part of an avatar of all that was lazy. He pulled up Iruka's former seat and flopped into it.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto shouted.

"Well… I would be if I was your teacher."

"Wait, you're not our teacher?"

The jounin sighed as if this was taking too much work already.

"Nope. Your teacher is a bit busy. He'll be here shortly. No need to break a leg over this. I'm just here to tell you he'll be late and to keep an eye on you."

Naruto crossed his arms and took a seat up in the front row. The jounin pulled out a familiar small pink book. Naruto recognized the cover from one those stores that children were not allowed in. That meant the jounin should not be reading that in front of innocent people like Hinata! The blonde haired genin yelled out in indignation.

"Hey! You can't read that smut here!"

"Name's Hatake Kakashi, by the way," Kakashi answered. "I just want to see how the story develops. Unless you think you can stop me."

"It's not worth my time," Naruto shot back.

Kakashi was a little disappointed Naruto did not take the bait. He could have probably gotten in a few good lessons before the real teacher arrived. Kakashi turned the page and continued reading. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as another hour passed.

**"Boring… boring… boring…"**

_"Shut up, demon."_

**"Me oh my! The brat can hear me! Oh glorious day!"**

"_It's better talking to you than just sitting here doing nothing."_

Loud footsteps slowly made their way to the classroom. Hinata and Sasuke perked up. Naruto waited expectantly. The door slid open as a man entered the room. Hinata and Sasuke instantly recognized the person standing before them. Naruto just stared wondering where he had seen him before. Kakashi saluted the man, gingerly placed his book away, and exited the room.

"I will be your teacher," the man said with a gruff, sinister lilt to his voice.

The Kyuubi recognized something familiar and tapped into Naruto's senses. He tested the air smelling a familiar, strange scent. This was the man that had rescued Naruto as a child. A flash of insight hit the fox as the Kyuubi finally remembered that smell.

"You may call me…" The man began, and his voice chilled the room.

Snake. The Kyuubi remembered. That is what it was. He smelled of snake.

"Orochimaru."

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**Author's Notes:** So… uh… any good? This chapter along with the prologue was originally all one chapter. I was naïve to think I could have fit all of that into less than ten thousand words. In fact this whole chapter was a lot longer than I thought I would make it, but it only took a couple of days to make a rough draft of it. I dunno if I can pull another chapter of this length this quickly.


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